VAL Brews Up Funding For Local Charity's Eric & Ernie Initiative

Guidance from Voluntary Action LeicesterShire leads to fleet of fundraising quirky coffee wagons to both serve and support the community.

15.7k

VIEWS

When local homeless charity The Bridge – Homelessness to Hope were looking to explore new funding opportunities they asked VAL, the Leicestershire charity that not only gets people into volunteering but helps community groups and organisations thrive through helpful advice, introductions and mentoring.

The Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL) team have provided vital support to the charity by enabling them to secure £30,000 of investment for an additional mobile coffee wagon.

Ernie - the original mobile coffee wagon - was believed to be the first of its kind in the charity sector outside of London. He is a converted milk float that was generously donated to the charity by local dairy, Kirby & West, who later donated an old ice cream trailer which is now called Eric.

Based on Melton Street in Leicester, The Bridge – Homelessness to Hope has been helping homeless people to turn their lives around since 2009 by providing up to 100 early breakfast servings for rough sleepers per week and almost 10,000 meals per year to the homeless and vulnerable alongside a range of specialist support services including mentoring and mental health wellbeing.

Like most charities, The Bridge – Homelessness to Hope is restrained by finances. Although successful at bidding for new projects, funding core costs is impossible.

Always keen to explore new funding opportunities, the charity attended VAL’s annual Funding Fair, where local Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations can learn more about how to seek support to find funding. The Bridge – Homelessness to Hope were introduced to the Key Fund, a social investor that provides flexible grant and loan packages to support VCS organisations, social enterprises and charities.

Keith Lawson-West, Trustee at The Bridge – Homelessness to Hope says: “We wanted to set up a social enterprise to cover our core costs. VAL was pivotal to this vision by introducing us to Key Fund. With their help, we got our social enterprise – ‘The Bridge to Hope’, a wholly-owned Community Interest Company (CIC) – up and running quickly. “They’ve supported us in setting up a mobile coffee wagon to help raise funds and we’ve also converted an ice-cream trailer to a second coffee wagon.”

Kevin Allen-Khimani, Executive Manager – Public Sector Contracts and Projects at VAL says: “It’s a privilege to work with charities such as The Bridge – Homelessness to Hope and provide them with the advice and contacts to support their fundraising initiatives.

“What drew us to the mobile coffee wagons in particular was the fact that all proceeds from the sales go straight back in to the charity. Everyone buying from them not only gets a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, but is safe in the knowledge that they are playing their part in helping Leicester’s homeless community.”

All proceeds from sales go towards supporting the various specialist services offered by the charity for the city’s homeless community.

VAL have been helping volunteer and community groups to thrive for fifty years and across a range of services encompassing education, employment, support and funding for some of the hardest to reach and most marginalised in society. In 2018 VAL contributed £4.1 million to the local economy through helping 177 people into work and £1.62 million in funding for local voluntary groups through its services.

To find out how your business, charity or group could value from talking to VAL contact them on 0116 257 5050 or visit https://valonline.org.uk/

"Its a privilege to work with charities such as The Bridge Homelessness to Hope and provide them with the advice and contacts to support their fundraising initiatives."Kevin Allen-Khimani

15.7k

VIEWS

DISCLAIMER: The statements, opinions, views and advice expressed in this article are those of the author/organisation and not of ENTIRELY.
This article should represent information correct at the time of publication however whilst every care has been taken to present
up-to-date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that inaccuracies will not occur. ENTIRELY will not be held responsible for any claim,
loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within this article or any information accessed through this site. The content of any
organisations websites which you link to from ENTIRELY are entirely out of the control of
ENTIRELY, and you proceed at your own risk. These links are provided purely for your convenience and do not imply any endorsement of or association
with any products, services, content, information or materials offered by or accessible to you at the organisations site.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU ON ENTIRELY CHARITY

As the summer holidays draw to an end and parents are preparing to get back to doing the school run, a mum of 2 from a village in Yorkshire is spearheading a national campaign and fundraising for MIND, with a mission of pushing the power of kindness

A charity which supports women experiencing challenges like homelessness, mental ill health and poverty is calling on people across the city to host a MASH Night In to raise vital funds to keep women safe in Greater Manchester

This year saw EEUK award their first international fellowship to Jing Zhang FEEUK from Beijing Weishengchang International BWI for working with Enterprise Evolution, consultancy arm of Liverpoolbased charity, The Womens Organisation

Diversity Travel, a travel management company specialising in the charity and academic sectors, is working in partnership with Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines to raise vital funds for the Diversity Foundation

The City of Preston 10k returns this year on Sunday 29th September after a successful relaunch in 2018, which saw over 1,600 runners run through the heart of Preston.For 2019, the streets of Preston will welcome runners and spectators to the popular route